Originally published August 28 2005
Next space shuttle won't fly until March 2006
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
NASA administrators recently announced that the U.S. won't be returning a manned shuttle to space until March 2006.
NASA is targeting March for the next Space Shuttle mission (STS-121).
The mission will be the second test flight to the International Space Station in the Shuttle Return to Flight sequence.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier made the announcement today at a news conference at the agency's headquarters in Washington.
"We are giving ourselves what we hope is plenty of time to evaluate where we are," said Administrator Griffin.
Moving toward a no earlier than March launch for STS-121 will allow engineering teams more time to properly evaluate the issue of large pieces of insulating foam that came off Discovery's external fuel tank during launch last month.
Targeting March also allows the Space Shuttle Program to put itself into a better posture for future Shuttle missions to the Space Station.
Changing Orbiters for the STS-121 mission enables use of Atlantis for the following mission, STS-115, which will resume assembly of the Station.
The switch frees Atlantis to fly the remaining Space Station truss segments, which are too heavy for Discovery, in 2006.
"We're looking at the Shuttle missions to support the most robust flight sequence for the Space Station and to make the whole sequence flow better.
This extra time helps us make sure that all the work we need to do fits and that there are no other issues."
They will enable NASA to evaluate new safety procedures and equipment, giving the agency greater confidence that the Shuttle can be flown safely through its planned retirement date of 2010.
The external fuel tanks at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be shipped back to the Michoud Assembly Facility in Louisiana for tests and potential modifications.
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